Petition Asks Court if Texas Constitution Protects Economic Liberty of All Texans or Just a Few

Austin, TX.—Does the Texas Constitution protect the right of all Texans to earn an honest living free from unreasonable government interference or just some? That is the subject of a Texas Supreme Court petition filed late yesterday by the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf of three Texas craft breweries. The breweries and IJ first…

Indio, Ca. obtained an arrest warrant and forced a property owner to pay nearly $6,000 in attorneys fees to a private law firm just to resolve a $225 ticket for keeping backyard chickens

When Ramona Morales agreed to pay a $225 fine for failing to force her tenants to remove a few backyard chickens, she had no way of knowing that what started out as an innocent misunderstanding would ultimately cost her nearly $6,000. Ramona was one of an untold number of California homeowners who have been caught…

This year, the Fourteenth Amendment turns 150. The Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement (CJE) and the Antonin Scalia Law School’s Liberty & Law Center are pleased to announce a symposium to reflect on the 150th anniversary of the adoption of Fourteenth Amendment. The day-long symposium will be held Friday, September 21, 2018, at the…

Institute for Justice Will Continue to Fight for Property Rights

Miami—Fans of homegrown vegetables will have to wait a little bit longer to grow their gardens after the Florida Supreme Court this morning refused to hear the appeal of homeowners Hermine Ricketts and Tom Carroll in their challenge to the Village of Miami Shores’ ban on front-yard vegetable gardens. “The Florida Supreme Court’s refusal to…

Sidewalk vendors in Los Angeles operate in legal limbo as they wait for lawmakers to legalize their trade, but a solution could soon come at the state level. A bill, SB 946, filed last week by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, would, if passed, legalize sidewalk vending statewide and prevent cities from passing anti-competitive regulations. Thankfully,…

For generations, driving a cab has been an easy way to earn a living doing something you enjoy: driving. But with the rise of Uber, Lyft, and other transportation options, driving a cab has gotten harder, which is why is makes absolutely no sense for Jackson, Mississippi to impose arbitrary limits on the number of…

A federal judge on Monday ruled against Philadelphia’s taxi industry, which had demanded a bailout because they faced greater competition. So Philadelphia Eagles fans looking for a safe and sober ride home Sunday night can still use Uber and Lyft. In Philadelphia, the number of taxi medallions was initially capped at 1,600. Thanks to this…

The Washington Department of Licensing ordered IJ client Salamata Sylla to obtain a time-consuming and irrelevant cosmetology license for hair braiding. IJ sued on her behalf and forced the Department to adopt a rule exempting braiders.

The Archdiocese of Newark is one of the largest in terms of population in the U.S., with nearly 1.3 million Catholics and 219 parishes. The Archdiocese is fighting a New Jersey law that makes it a crime to sell monuments, such as headstones, to their parishioners.

Liz has seven children, three of whom have a severe tissue disorder called EDS which requires constant medical attention. Liz needs Nevada’s ESA so she can design a quality education for her youngest EDS child, Dallin, who will likely miss a lot of school in the future.

In 2011, police raided Jameelah El-Shabazz’s apartment in New York City and found several cups filled with crushed eggshells, which Jameelah uses for religious purposes. Believing the cups were filled with drugs, police arrested Jameelah and her son Akin and held them in jail for a week. They also had her apartment closed . City attorneys, relying on those same discredited allegations about the cups of crushed eggshells, claimed the apartment had been the site of drug crimes, and had her apartment closed under the city’s no-fault eviction ordinance. Unable to fight back in court, Jameelah had to agree to permanently bar her son from her home in order to regain access to her own apartment.

IJ client Elmer Kilian has been preparing taxes for the past 30 years on his dining room table. He fought and successfully defended his right to earn an honest living without getting permission from the IRS.

Rett owns Revolver Brewing, south of Fort Worth. He is fighting a Texas law that forces brewers to give up their distribution rights to distributors for free. Even worse, distributors can then sell those rights to other distributors and pocket the money.

IJ client Dr. Ben Burris is an Arkansas orthodontist who wants to offer low-cost teeth cleanings to people who cannot otherwise afford them. But it is illegal for him to perform basic dental services, even though he is a licensed dentist.

David and Ellen Keith have lived in Pleasant Ridge since the 1970s, and a daughter, a granddaughter and even two great-grandchildren live next door. But if forced out, they will be left nearly destitute in their retirement.

After working in the food service industry for several years, Troy King purchased his first food truck in 2014—a gourmet chicken food truck called Pollo. But in September 2016, Troy was operating Pollo in downtown Louisville when a city inspector threatened to issue a citation and tow his truck simply because Troy was serving customers within 150 feet a restaurant that also serves chicken. Troy was forced to abandon his vending location and his customers.

David Diaz, a custodian at a synagogue in the Bronx, lives with members of his family in an apartment near the Bronx Zoo. The NYPD raided the apartment in 2013, entering with guns drawn, and arrested all the adults present, but did not charge anyone.

Ash Patel moved to Texas from India to pursue his American Dream of opening up an eyebrow threading salon. But in 2009, Texas demanded that eyebrow threaders obtain an expensive cosmetology license—even though beauty schools teach absolutely nothing about eyebrow threading. Ash shut down his successful business to avoid paying $2,000 in fines. He teamed up with the Institute for Justice to vindicate his rights. Six years later, IJ scored one of its most important economic liberty victories when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the state had violated the Texas Constitution by ordering threaders to obtain 750 hours of conventional cosmetology training. Threaders all over Texas are now free to work without having to obtain a government-issued license.

Pat Raynor, a lifelong hairstylist, became interested in working from home after her husband Harold passed away in 2009. But under Nashville’s ban on home-based businesses, Pat was forced to shut down her home hair salon.

Under Red Wing, Minn.’s rental inspection ordinance, it is easier for the government to force its way into the homes of law-abiding citizens than it is to search the home of a suspected criminal. Robert and Rebecca joined a lawsuit to stop these unreasonable and intrusive inspections of their private residential properties.

For more than 30 years, Hinga Mbogo has been fixing the cars of Dallas residents at his shop on Ross Avenue. But the city is trying to shut him down by using an oppressive and little-known zoning process called “amortization.”

Kriss Marion is the founder of her local farmers’ market in Blanchardville, Wisconsin. But under the state’s ban on selling home-baked goods, Kriss must instead give her extra baked goods away or feed them to her pigs and chickens.

Mildred Bryant is 84 years old and living out her golden years in the home she’s owned for 46 years in Pagedale, Missouri. But she faces a real threat of tickets, fines, and imprisonment from the town.

Martha is a stay-at-home mom with two sons, a 5-year old and a 2-year old. She has baked her whole life and is professionally trained. Martha is Brazilian and lived in Brazil for 25 years, and she would like to start a home business focusing on Brazilian-inspired cookies.

Robert Martin operates the Red’s Comfort Foods food truck and offers specialty gourmet hot dogs and sausages in Louisville, Kentucky. The city’s 150-foot ban makes it difficult for Robert to operate his Red’s Comfort Foods food truck in Louisville because the law creates no-vending zones that extend 150 feet around every restaurant, café and eating establishment in the city. In fact, Robert was even cited in 2015 for vending downtown within 150 feet of a restaurant.

Sally Ladd is a New Jersey-based entrepreneur who provides short-term vacation property management services in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. But after Pennsylvania wanted her to obtain a real-estate broker’s license, which requires her to spend three years working for an established broker, Sally felt forced to shut down her business.

Dr. Mark Baumel, of Colon Health Centers for America, wants to increase the rate of screening for colon cancers. But when Dr. Baumel and his partners sought Virginia’s permission to buy new CT scanners, it denied them a “certificate of need.”

Mats Järlström is a Swedish-born electronics engineer and has the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. After his wife received a ticket based on a red-light camera in Beaverton, Oregon, Mats began criticizing the math behind red-light cameras. But Oregon’s engineer-licensing board considered Mats’ traffic-light critiques to be the unlicensed practice of engineering and fined him $500.

Susette is the Kelo in Kelo v. New London. She led her neighbors in a seven-year battle to save their homes from being taken by the government for private development, culminating in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2005.

Panna Shah came to the United States from India in 2006 in search of a better life. She has been threading for more than 30 years but would be unable to thread full-time because she can’t afford to complete Louisiana’s irrelevant training requirements.

Scott Fisher runs a video game store in Orange Park, Florida, just outside Jacksonville. To boost foot traffic and visibility for his business, he set up a giant inflatable Mario, only to run afoul of the town’s sign code. Scott has joined with the Institute for Justice to defend his First Amendment rights.

Wendy trained as a makeup artist in Hollywood and has over 20 years of experience working with celebrities. But in Nevada, teaching others how to apply makeup without a government-issued license can subject you to up to $2,000 in fines.

Charles Clarke is a college student, who spent over 5 years to save up $11,000—only to have it seized by law enforcement officials before he was scheduled to board a flight at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport.

IJ strategic research cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and in 192 articles in scholarly, law, and policy publications.

Behind the Scenes at IJ

Forfeiture Victory in Wyoming

IJ attorneys Anya Bidwell and Dan Alban with IJ client Phil Parhamovich outside the Wyoming courtroom where they successfully argued (on Dec. 1) that Phil’s $91,800 in life savings should be returned to him. It was seized in March by Wyoming law enforcement during a traffic stop on I-80 near Cheyenne.

New Case in Nashville

Holiday Card Preview!

Kids of IJ Production Director Don Wilson check out this year’s holiday card on press.

Defending the Brewers

Today, IJ appeared before the Texas Third Court of Appeals to protect our 2016 victory over a law that forced craft brewers to give away a valuable piece of their business to politically connected distributors. PICTURED: IJ attorneys and clients.

Arguing before the 8th Circuit

Today we argued before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Missouri’s hairbraiders. The government forces them to take 1,500 hours of irrelevant cosmetology training just to braid hair. That’s unconstitutional. PICTURED: IJ staff and braiders after today’s argument.